, 1887-02-26

N "N0AAN&
clOtheS IN a river, and a crocodile pulling
him away By his leg; and so on.
After the puppet-shOw is over, two Of
the showmen, perhaps, appear ON the stage
One dressed as a young European officer
and the other as his servant The former
has his cheeks painted a glowing vermilli.
on colour, AMI is attired in the most exact
military costume, with red jacket, stiff col.
lar, white trousers, boots and spurs, In
the first scene the young officer walks the
servant up and down the room, h%aranguing
him i'll broken Hindustani, which is thick.
~ lnteriarded with phrases like 'Tum
gudda haP C"You are an assn, and giving
MN q cut now and then. In the next
scene the young officer is represented in a
rather elevateds state helping himself to
tum6lerfuls Of brandy and water from a
bottle and a jug on the table before him,
his servant standing behind him mute and
still with his hands folded. With a jerk
the Sahih rises from his chair, aud, holding
a glass of brandy and water unsteadily in
his hand, commands the servant to drink
it then and there. The poor fellow does
not know what to do, makes wry faces,
salaams to the ground, and begs to be
excused; but his master will have him
drink, and he does so at last. WhereupOn
the young officer, taking hold of the SER
wants bands, begins to dance, giving him
now and then a box on the ear to correct
his steps or to quicken his pace. In the
third and last scene the young officer aud
his wife, tawirily dressed in white with
bonnet TO match, walk armin.arm in q
strutting manner. They then dance q
minuet, which brings the performance to
n close. The whole exhibition takes about
three hours.
These shOwmen mimic and caricature
fla un,hpV,,rc 81 a 81, T-JS-..- 5000 V~.a-I7
Sometimes, especially in the country, they
finish up the puppet show 10y representing
q sheep-dance, al which a number of them
skip on all tours like sheep; and a fowl.
dance, at which they sit upon their hams,
and, putting one hand over their head to
initiate the back of "a fowl, hop about,
pecking at one another. This amuses the
ruStics exceedingly. In the villages the
puppet-Sh0w is held in the market-place
or in the zemindar'S house; aud there the
grown up people are not at all shy Of at
tending ii.
The pUppet-shOwmen are paid from one
rupee to four or five rupees for each per-
tOrmance and then there are the extra
cDpper4, which amount to q respectable
sum. These men form u distinct class;
they are born and bred in the profession,
and may be either HindO0s or Mahomme-
dams, though more often they are the for
mer, the show itself being of HindOo orr
gin. The pnppet-plays of the HindoOs,
like their operate performances, can be
traced to the same source as the earlier
drama in England-the representation Of
set historical pieces being their chief aim.
and a constant intermixture of pathOS
and humour is common to all. II is in the
mechanism of the figures that the great
superiority Of the Indian puppet lies. AS
/ have said before, some of them can move
almost every limb-walk, dance, kneel
down, stOOp, wink. | have never seen a
proper puppct-Show anywhere out of India;
but, from The accounts | nave read of the
Italian and German puppet-shOws, l be-
lieve the Indian exhibitions beat them in
the mechanism of the figures, in variety
of entertainment, and in the general get
up. AS to the English Punch and judy,
an Indian child would feel ashamed to look
at it. 1t is, indeed, curious to notice that
the natives of India, who cannot make q
decent lock or manufacture a box of safe
ty matches, spend so much time and inge-
nuity in these petty shows. However, it
is a comfort to feel superior to the enlight-
enedEnglist man in some things.-DemerG.
TG ArgOSy.